Michael and Kitty Dukakis Ride the CapeFlyer

NICE GOING, GUYS – Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, center, has complimentary words for Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority Administrator Tom Cahir, left, and John Kennedy, general manager of the RTA’s operations company, on the CapeFlyer. “This makes all kinds of sense,” Dukakis said in an interview with the Patriot. “What’s needed is some significant track improvement.” He said people who live near rail lines should expect them to be used, and cited the experience of his wife’s childhood neighborhood in Newton, where some residents initially opposed transit service. “Now homes are twice the value they were,” he said. The former governor thinks the cost of demolishing the US Postal Service building next to South Station to build more tracks could be avoided by building the long-discussed North-South rail tunnel between North and South Stations, and he says transit systems around the world are finding the costs of tunneling decreasing.

Lively crowd enjoys first trip from Boston

Helped out by a little star power from former Gov. Michael Dukakis and his wife, Kitty, the first official run of the CapeFlyer train from Boston to Hyannis drew the eyes of the media May 24.

Passengers out for a car-free trip to Cape Cod found themselves the target of cameras and notebooks, including the Dukakises, who toured the Cape-bound railcars with grandson Peter in tow to greet ticketholders.

Snotty weather may have helped keep the numbers down at the outset, but by weekend’s end, 770 had made the trip to Hyannis, according to the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority.